Mandrel



E. G. HILL June 28, 1949.

MANDREL Filed June 4, 1947 2/ 23 Fla.

INVENTOR 2Z1 2% A462 ATTORNEYS Patented June 28, 1949 Application .June.4. 1947;.Seria1No, 752,409 r A Claims.

This invention relates to mandrels, such as are used for: supportingv atubular: core; while --yarn is wound thereon to form a yarn package.-More particularly, the -invention is --concerned with a novel mandrelfor the purpose mentioned; is .of simple. construction,- ligl'r'tin-weight, and highly durable. The new mandrel is made" entirely of-meta1,;so-that it is not affected by atmospheric eondi'tionsandit is'so constructed that it iisz-not likely to be m-lured or distortedduringhandling; Its "dimensions; accordingly; remain constant-throughout 'itsuse and autube can 'be readily mounted-onit-orremoved thereirom'withoutsticking. It includessimple means -for-holding the tube-in properposition longitudinally'a-nd such means operate automatically to-anchor:the tube; as the (latter is-telesooped over -the mandrel, and maybe-made to-re1easethe "tube-"with little effort. The mandrel providesexcellent support for the tube,- While the latter is rotated during thewinding operation and it is --not substantially longer than the tube,sothat-itsmse does-not require additional space-in the winding machine.-

For a betterunderstanding of the-invention; reference may be made-to-the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectionalview on-: t h,e. line -il of Fig, 2 of one iornrofthe-newmandrel with atube mountedthereon; i

Fig. 2 is 'an end -=view' lookingfromq-the left "in Fig; 1;

Fig. 3 is a-nend-view-looking1ronr'the rigiit'in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sect-ional view-on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is anend view of "the cap; and

Fig-.6 15 a viewin perspective-of themain body of the mandrel.

The mandrel in the form 'showninzthe drawings comprises a bar l llof"generally Yesection; the bar preferably including -a-cylindricalcentral "section I l from which radiateth-reeblades lipwhiich-are ofequal length and equhangularlyspaced; The bar is preferably made ofalight -meta'l, suchyas aluminum or magnesium; and it may be produced inindefinite lengthbyan extrusion operation and then cut into sectlonsappropriate foruse for so that the bar is strong and :will not =bedistorted or damaged. during handling as; for example, if it isdropped.

The .bar is provided atpone endxwith around cap"l3, which is preferablyformed of sheet metal,

for example, aluminum or magnesium, and may be producedrby a stampingoperation. The cap has-a diameterrslightly greater than "that of ':thecylinder describedfby-rotation of "the *bar 110' on its "axis and,during the formation of the' cap, itisrprovided'with a central, openingMand an oifsetrperipheral 'fiangeg'lfiz Also, as an incident to theproduction of the cap, three equiangular s-paced tongues Hi are'stuck-irom the" cap-to extend at rightan-gles to -the-p1ane thereof.

The mandrel *is provided; with steel gudgeons l='l l8 Whichare-mounted-intthe ends of the barll; 'toextend coaxially therewith; The,gudgeon I .1 is "forciblyinserted into an opening drilled in one end ofthe cylindrical section |=l 0f the bar and iisheld in placefrictionally. The other gudgeon l8 has anwenlarged'end 13a,whichisinserted inan' opening-in the otherend-of the cylindrical sectionll of the bar. The main body of 'gudgeon i8 is ofsl-ightly less "sizethan th-e opening I' l through the cap-and in-orderto holdthe'gudgeon inplace, its enlarged end is forced into the openingwtherefon intheendotthe' ban; and thereaften-the-can I3 is plaoed against the end of"the banwith the *tongues Shearing-against the-faces of the-respectiveblades 12. The-"tongues are thensecured tothe blades by rivets 19;eachof which is passed through an-0pening-20- f0rmed in the blade andthrough an opening in the-tongue and then-headed over; The edge-of thecap around the opening-lilies against the outer face-of theen1arged-end-ltaof the gudgeon, sothat-the gudgeon-is helds i-n placepartly byirictionand partly by-means of the cap.

The mandrel is "provided-with means Tor-anohoring the tuhe impositionlongitudinally thereon and such means take the; form of a' springpressedcletent. The detent illustrated is a plunger M; which is -of enlargedd-iameterat-one end; The "plunger is mounted in-apassage '22, which=extendsthrough the cylindrical sectionll of the-bar-andthrough oneott'the-blades to the outer edge' thereof; The'tpassage has sections ofdilierentdiametera-nd, as 'theplunger-is moved outwardly-through thepassage; its enlarged end 2Ia seats against a circumferential shoulder23 in the passage. When the plunger is in this position, its outer endprojects beyond the outer face of the blade in which it is mounted. Theplunger is normally held in outermost position by means of efspring 24,which lies within the passage and bears at one end against the plungerand at the other against a disc 25, which is inserted'in the enlargedend of the passage and is held in place by metal around the edge of theopening, which has been peened over the disc, as indicated at 26.

Thetubes, with which the mandrel is to be used, are preferablymade of ahard plastic'material, such as that known as Bakelite, and'each tube isformed witha pair of circumferential channels 27 in its inner surface.The'distance between each channel and the adjacent end of the tube isthe same as the distance from the end of the plunger 2| to the opposedface of the flange P5 of the cap. When a tube is telescoped over themandrel and moved along the latter, the edge of the tube engages therounded end of the plunger and forces it down into the passage throughthe blade. The tube then passes over the top of the plunger and, whenthe end of the tube has seated against the flange IS, the plunger entersachannel 21 in theitube. The force of the spring is such that theplunger entering the channel holds the tube firmly against accidentaldisplacement lengthwise of'the mandrel. V a

The new mandrel is made entirely of metal and, because of that, it isnot subject to changes in dimensions as a result in variations in atmospheric conditions. Prior rnandrels made of Wood shrink and swell as thehumidity in the atmosphere varies and such changes cause the mandrelseither to fit loosely within the to. es or else to bind as the tubes aremounted thereon or removed therefrom. The blades of the bar of the newmandrel are thick and rigid, so that there is little possibility oftheir being damaged or bent during handling, and although the cap ismade of thin metal, it projects only slightly beyond the edges of theblades of the bar and is protected thereby.

The gudgeons project only a short distance beyond the ends of the bar,so that the overall length of the mandrel is only slightly greater thanthat of the tube. The use of the mandrel, accordingly, requires littlespace additional to that necessary for the tube in the winding machine.

The detent securely holds the tube in place during winding but permitsready release of the tube from the mandrel when desired. For thispurpose, the mandrel with the tube thereon is placed with its gudgeon I?on a fiat surface, whereupon only little force is required to move thetube lengthwise of the mandrel to cause the plunger to ride out of thegroove in the tube. Thereafter, the tube can be readily removed from themandrel. Because of the maintenance of its dimensions, the mandrel fitssnugly within the tube and provides good support for the latter duringwinding. Also, the spring-pressed detent is light in weight, so that itsmounting within the bar does not unbalance the latter and causevibration during rotation.

The mandrel illustrated includes three blades, but a larger number maybe used if desired. Pref erably, an odd number of blades is employedsince, with this arrangement, the formation of the passage in which thedetent is mounted is simplified. With an odd number of blades, an

opening can be drilled through the central, part 4 of. the mandrel andthrough one of the blades to its. outer surface, whereas, if an evennumber of blades were employed, two of the blades would be aligned andthis would make the formation of the passage more difficult. It wouldprobably be undesirable to use as many as seven blades, because theweight of the mandrel would then approach that of the cylinder.Accordingly, a mandrel of three or five blades is preferred.

I claim:

l. A mandrel for supporting a core upon which a strand is to be wound,which comprises a bar of Y section, a cap at one end of the bar and ofgreater diameter than the cylinder described by rotation of the bar onits axis, tongues extending from the cap and lying against the legs ofthe bar and secured thereto, a pair of gudgeons mounted on the bar inthe axis thereof at opposite ends. of the bar, Onelof the gudgeonsprojecting beyond the cap, and a spring-pressed detent mounted on thebar and normally extending beyond the outer face of one leg thereof.

2. A mandrel for supporting a core upon which a strand is to be wound,which comprises a bar having a solid central section and at least threelike blades extending radially and axially of the central section, apair of gudgeons seated in axial recesses at the ends of the centralsection, a cap attached to one end of the bar and of greater diameterthan the cylinder described by the ends of the blades, when the bar isrotated on its axis, one of the gudgeons projecting through the cap, apassage extendin diametrically through the central section of the barand through one of the blades to the outer edge thereof, a detentmounted in the passage and projecting out of the end of the passagebeyond the outer edge of said blade, a spring within the passagepressing the detent outwardly, and a disc closing the other end of thepassage and forming a seat for the spring.

3. A mandrel for supporting a core upon which a strand is to be wound,which comprises a bar having a solid central section and at least threelike blades extending radially and axially of the central section, apair of gudgeons seated in axial recesses at the ends of the centralsection, a cap attached to one end of the bar and of greater diameterthan the cylinder described by the ends of the blades, when the bar isrotated on its axis, one of the gudgeons projecting through the cap, apassage extending diametrically through the central section of the barand through one of the "blades to the outer edge thereof, the passagehaving a large diameter portion within the central section and a smalldiameter portion within said blade, a plunger having a stem and a headreceivable, respectively, in the small and large diameter portions ofthe passage, the stem being longer than the small diameter portion ofthe passage, a sprin within the passage acting on the head of theplunger and urging the end of the stem out of the end of the passagebeyond the outer edge of said blade, and a disc closing the other end ofthe passage,

4. A mandrel for supporting a core upon which a strand is to be wound,which comprises a bar having a solid central section and at least threelike blades extending radially and axially of the central section, apair of gudgeons seated in axial recesses at the ends of the centralsection, one of the gudgeons having a portion of large diameter in itsrecess and a portion of small diameter projecting out of the recess, acap attached to one end of the bar and of greater diameter than thecylinder described by the ends of the blades, when the bar is rotated onits axis, the cap havin an opening for passage of the por- REFERENCESCITED tion of small diameter of said gudgeon and engag- Th f llowingreferences are of record in the ing the portion of large diameter tohold the fi f i pa nt:

gudgeon in its recess, a passage extending dla- 5 metrically through thecentral section of the bar UNITED STATES PATENTS and through one of theblades to the outer edge Number Name Date thereof, a detent mounted inthe passage and pro- ,2 r ydberg M y 1942 jecting out of the end of thepassage beyond the 2,409,742 Dougherty Oct. 22, 1946 outer edge of saidblades, a spring within the 10 2,416-735 Welch a 9 passage pressing thedetent outwardly, and a disc FOREIGN PATENTS closing the other end ofthe passage and forming a seat for the spring. Number Country Date258,376 Great Britain Sept. 23, 1926 EARL G HILL 15 311,280 Italy Sept.26, 1933 727,690 France Feb. 13, 1931

